The Dragon King 1 in a Half
by slpytlak
Summary: This is a story about Erin, Bonkers, Tails and Alyssa on their own adventure about what happen before The Dragon King.
1. Erin, Tails, Alyssa and Bonkers

Well, I've made a promise to my good friend Erin that I can do a story about her and her friends' adventures. So, enjoy!

Sounds of morning on the savannah. A dragon roars in the distance. Sunrise over the Cartoon Kingdom, exactly as my first story. People and animals raise their heads as the sun rises, preparing to march to Dragon Cave.

MS: _**Nants ingonyama bagithi baba**_

BS: _**Sithi uhhmm ingonyama**_

MS:_** Ingonyama  
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba**_

Tails: (simultaneously, imitating the singer): _**Whaaaat's on the menu? **_

_**It could be ceviche, it's stinky—ooh, it's Bonkers…aah**_

"I gotta tell you, guys…that song always gets me right here," said Bonkers from the off-screen.

"Yeah, Bonkers," Tails pauses the movie, "Well enough about," he holds up a remote control and begins fast-forwarding through the movie. We now see Erin, Tails, Bonkers and Alyssa in silhouette in a row of theater seats, Mystery Science Theater 3000-style.

"Uh, Tails, what are you doing?" Bonkers asked.

"I'm fast-forwarding to the part where we come in!" Tails replied.

"But you can't go out of order!" Bonkers said in aghast because he didn't like when Tails is fast-forwarding to the part of the movie.

"Au contraire, my bobcat pal. _I've_ got the remote!" Tails smirked.

"But everyone's gonna get confused!" Bonkers grabs a second, bigger remote, "We gotta go back to the beginning of the story." He begins rewinding the movie.

"We're not _in_ the beginning of the story!" Tails snapped as he pauses the movie on Kakashi holding up Jake, with a ninja screech; the movie begins fast-forwarding again.

"Yes, we were—the whole time!" Bonkers snapped rewinds; the film reverses on a shot of Erin and Tails looking in bewilderment at Jake and Rose's reunion, with a squawk of confusion.

"But _they_ don't know that!" Erin helped Tails, mentioning the audience switches the movie direction again, on Rose pinning Jake.

"Then why don't we tell them _our_ story?" Alyssa asked, until she helped Bonkers paused the movie on a snarling close-up of the three villains; Erin, Alyssa, Tails and Bonkers both shriek and dive under their seats.

"Hey, I have an idea," Tails said as he slowly-emerge from his seat, along with the others, "Why don't we tell them _our_ story?"

"Oh—I like the sound of that," Alyssa nodded.

"A little backstage tour. Take 'em behind the scenes for a revealing and intimate look at the story within the story," Erin explained.

"'Cause what _they_ don't know is how we really _were_ there even though they didn't _know_ we were there, y'know?" Bonkers asked.

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Tails began to rewind the movie.

"So does this mean we're going back to the beginning?" Alyssa asked.

"Oh, no, Alyssa," Tails replied, melodramatically, "No, we're going way back…to _before_ the beginning."

The sunrise plays backwards, looking like a sunset; the screen goes black along with African drumbeats; the title "The Dragon King" crashes onto the screen, followed by a 2, then a 1, then another 1, followed by a diagonal line which forms the crooked "1 1/2" logo. Cracks appear across the screen image, and the black screen shatters and falls from the field of view in fragments, leaving a view of Dragon Cave in daylight.

There you have it, hope you give me some suggestions if you like, including Erin. Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	2. Digga Tunnah

Thank you for the wait. Here's where Tails is born and raised.

At daytime, we now see the Dragon Cave as Bonkers spoke in reverently, "Dragon Cave."

"So majestic," said Erin.

"So powerful," Alyssa added.

"So…bizarrely named," Tails paused the movie, "Guys, how can a cave be proud? It's a _cave_!"

"Well, I think a cave is where a clan of dragons live," Bonkers answered. Tails rolled his eyes, "Oh, sure, the _dragons_ get Dragon Cave. And what about us two-tailed foxes? Where I come from we didn't have _nothin'_ to be proud of. Why…"

Tails: _**When I was a young fox**_

Bonkers: _**When he was a young fox**_

That blew Tails out of his seat, while the girls giggled. "Very nice," Tails said, peevishly as he got back to his seat.

"Thanks!" Bonkers grinned.

"But maybe it'd be safer if I just show 'em where I came from,"

"Yay! Do we get to see where you grew up?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah, Alyssa, but it ain't pretty," Tails clicks the remote; the view of Pride Rock switches to a full-screen shot, "Please remain seated while the camera is in motion."

The camera does a super-high-speed truck-out from Dragon Cave, past zebras, grasslands, the Toon Graveyard, the Gorge, marshlands, the desert, and finally stopping at a dry plain of low mounds of dirt, with a tumbleweed blowing across.

"Here we are: from Dragon Cave to the pit of shame," Tails continued, "We're so low on the food chain we're underground! But you don't have to take my word for it. I'll just let my fellow two-tailed foxes do the talking."

Background Chant: _**Semon pute**_

Two-tailed Foxes: (_Chanting, nervously_) _**What was that?!  
What was what?! Shh!  
What was that?!  
What was that?!  
Where? What?  
Where? Where? Shh!  
What was that?! Shh!  
Quick, before the Anti-Toon come!**_

"Clear!" the guard fox shouted and the others began to dig more tunnels, singing during their work.

_**Digga tunnah,   
Dig, digga tunnah  
When you're done ya dig a bigga tunnah  
Digga tunnah,  
Dig, dig a tunnah  
Quick, before the hyena come!  
DIG!**_

BC: _**Semon pute**_

Two-tailed foxes: _**Digga tunnah,  
Dig, digga tunnah  
You can dig and never get dunnah**_

BC: _**Semon pute**_

Foxes: _**Digga tunnah, (Dig a little faster)  
Dig, digga tunnah  
What was that?!**_

Silence as they look from side to side, listening.

_**Quick, before the Anti-Toon come!  
DIG!  
Digga tunnah is what we do  
Life's a tunnah we're diggin' through  
Digga tunnah is what we sing  
Digga tunnah is everything!  
Mud and clay is a fox's friend  
Always more around every bend  
And when you get to your tunnah's end  
Hallelujah! Let's dig again!  
DIG!  
Digga tunnah,  
Dig, digga tunnah (Digga tunnah)  
When you're done ya dig a bigga tunnah.  
Digga tunnah, (Dig a little faster)  
dig dig a tunnah.  
What was that?! **_

They pause to listen.

_**Quick, before the Anti-Toon come!  
DIG!**_

As they kept work, two adult foxes came walking; one is a male named Amadeus Prower and his wife, Rosemary Prower, Tails' parents.

"Tails!" Rosemary shouted.

"Excuse me, have you seen our son?" Amadeus asked, "Has he been through here? Tails!"

An old two-tailed fox, wearing a green shirt and black pants kept chanting their song, "Digga tunnah, dig, digga tunnah... digga tunnah, dig, dig—Aaaah!" He screamed when Rosemary poked him.

"Merlin Prower?" Rosemary asked.

"Aaahh!" Merlin screamed.

"Merlin, relax," said Amadeus, "Have you seen Tails?"

"No, I haven't—and what a day it's been," Merlin replied, "No fractures, no lacerations, no concussions, contusions or injuries of any sort. As a matter of fact, there's no sign of Tails' handiwork anywhere!" But boy was he wrong.

The ceiling cracks and then comes crashing down around them, light streaming in all around; finally there's nothing left of the tunnel but a ring of dirt held up on a narrow protrusion, with Tails standing under it.

"That would be…_**MILES PROWER!!!!!!" **_Merlin yelled, very angry. Merlin calls Tails his real name, when he's in trouble.

"Heh, heh, heh," Tails chuckled, very embarrassed, "Hey, everybody!"

"Ha ha. Nice work, Tails," said the random fox.

"Way to go, tunnel klutz."

"Who else could break a hole?"

"Four in a week—a new record!"

"Not again," Amadeus groaned as Rosemary sighed because their son kept screwing up.

"What?" Tails asked, defiantly, "It's called a skylight!" The "skylight" crumbles to nothing.

"Ho ho. Wow! Isn't that creative," Amadeus said, trying to salvage the situation, "A _skylight!_ Oh, ha ha,"

"We'll just have a word with him," Rosemary added and she and Amadeus lead Tails away from the scene of the collapse.

"I... I was just trying to shed a little light on our pathetic existence," Tails complained because he wants a little light.

"Tails, this can't go on. Just this month, you've pulled down four walls and collapsed two tunnel exits," Rosemary combs Tails' hair, "We have to look after each other. Our survival depends on it."

"Mom, what's the point?" Tails groaned, "All we do is dig so we can hide, and hide so we can dig," Rosemary finishes combing his hair, which "poofs" up into a bunch of spikes, "I wanna be where we don't have to dig tunnels and live with our heads stuck in the sand," he pushes some grass apart and gazes out over the horizon, "What's so bad about dreaming of a better home?"

Amadeus joins him at the gap in the grass, "I wanna show you something. Look, Tails. Go on, look," Camera pulls back to a panoramic view of the Cartoon Kingdom in all their golden-lit majesty, as the "This Land" theme plays, "Look out to the horizon, past the trees, over the grasslands. Everything the light touches..." he said, sharply, "belongs to someone else!" A record needle scratches; the grasses snap back together and block the view.

"Funny. I thought you were going a whole different direction with this," said Tails.

"What can I say? It's nature's design," Amadeus chuckled. Merlin popped out of the grass, "He's right! We're food for other animals—a moveable feast. Feared by no one and eaten by all!"

"But when they die, they become the grass. And we eat the grass... right?" Tails asked.

"Not exactly; we can't digest grass. We're grass intolerant," Merlin replied.

Amadeus snatched Tails away, "Ok, Merlin. _Thank_ you. You've been a big help," he said to Tails, "Son, I—"

Merlin appeared out of another stand of grass, "Two-tailed fox…it's what's for dinner!"

"_Thank_ you, Merlin," Rosemary said in increasingly sarcastic; pointing meaningfully off into the distance. Merlin groans and disappears.

"I think Uncle Merlin dislodged one too many rocks with his skull," said Tails.

"But he's right, Tails," Rosemary tries to comb his hair again; a bug flies by, and she snatches it and squishes it into hair gel, "Oh, I just _know_ there's a way for you to fit in here." Tails glowers from under his plastered-down hair; a single hair springs back up, and he sighs.

"All right, who's on sentry duty?" Merlin asked the others, off-screen. Amadeus perks up with inspiration; gasps, "That's it! That's it—our son on sentry duty! Tails the sentry!" Later on, Merlin was being told of this idea, but he's in horrified shock, "Tails the _sentry?!_ Why don't you save the hyenas the trouble and kill me now? Just kill me now!"

"He has a point," Tails agreed.

"All you have to do is watch for hyenas and yell if you see one. Look at Iron Joe," said Merlin (Sorry Erin, I couldn't name another fox).

Iron Joe is in the middle of a nervous breakdown, "Don't close your eyes! Don't look away! Somebody's gotta guard us! Somebody's gotta protect us!" he breaks up in sobs as a couple of foxes orderlies carry him away, raving, from his post.

"Well. _Now_ I'm convinced," Tails spoke.

"Listen—it's outside, up in the breeze, under the wide open sky—isn't that what you want?" Rosemary talked to Merlin, "Or maybe you would rather have him go back on the digging crew."

"_**NO!"**_ every fox and Merlin shouted. Later on, the entire colony of foxes, listening intently, and now pretending nonchalance and clearing their throats.

"Good... then we all agree. Tails, listen to Merlin. He'll teach you everything you need to know. And honey," Rosemary said, earnestly, "Try to make this one work."

Looks like Tails will be on guard duty, but it won't last when he meets that Anti-Toon along with two bad guys.


	3. Tails The Sentry

Here's where things will go wrong for Tails, when he meets that Anti-Toon and company.

That late after noon, Merlin and Tails is outside as Merlin is demonstrating the duties of the sentry, "Scurry, sniff, flinch! Scurry, sniff, flinch," Tails isn't impressed and rolled his eyes while Merlin continues, "Scurry, sniff, flinch! Good. Now...what do we do if we see that Anti-Toon?"

"Scream 'Mommy and Daddy?'" Tails replied, unimpressed.

"That's right, mister! Because the world out there is fraught with danger. Fraught, I tell you!" said Merlin.

"Oh, boy. It's the Fraught Fest," Tails said in a sarcastic manner.

Merlin ignored that and shouted in furiously pantomiming, "Even _all_ bloodthirsty villains and that Anti-Toon are waiting to rip us limb from limb!"

"Bra-_vo_, Uncle Merlin. Way to sell it to the cheap seats," Tails applauded sarcastically. Merlin said in Tails' face, "Applaud now, sonny boy," he said quiet and severe, "But try clapping when you don't have any hands!" Merlin turns and leaves Tails on sentry duty. Tails gulps, looking at his hands. Then he takes up his position on the rock.

"Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch," marimbas begin; Tails starts to get into it, "Huh... I like the sound of that. Scurry, sniff, flinch," he begins dancing more and more flamboyantly, "Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch!"

Tails: _**There's more to life than panic  
And bein' some other guy's snack—euugh**_

What he didn't know is that three bad guys pop up from behind a rock in the background, then disappear again.

_**I may be delicious, organic  
But this little entree's fightin' back!  
I'm gonna put diggin' tunnels behind me  
And live at a new altitude  
I'm gonna reach for the stars to remind me  
That foxes are not merely food!  
For once I'll be...**_

Tails steps into the cloud and surfs into a fantasy waterfall setting.

_**Lookin' out for me... yeah!  
I'll tell you what I want  
This fox is movin' on  
He's a **__**bon vivant**__**  
Who's missin' out on **__**bon**__**  
I'd be a bigger cheese  
Far from the desert scene  
A little cooling breeze  
A little patch of green!  
And I'll be snoozin' in my hammock by a rippling stream  
Many miles from any tunnel and the digging team  
Looking after number one will be my only creed  
That's all I need**_

He slurps up some bugs.

_**That's all I need**_

_**I've always been good at runnin' away  
Well, now I'm gonna run the show-ow  
I've always been seen as the ultimate prey  
But now my status ain't so quo!**_

The fantasy and the music dissolve as he improvises, unaware that the three villains have surrounded him, while Tails is improvising.

_**A dream sublime...  
It's villain tiiime... oh!**_

Tails heard some clapping, which is from Evil Erin, Leroy and Rito.

"Oh, look its dinner and a show!" said Evil Erin.

"And I thought beans were the only musical food," Leroy added.

"Yeah," Rito smirked. Tails stared at them, frozen in fear, "Ev…Ev…Ev…"

"Well, good Evening to you too," Evil Erin smacks Tails, who goes rolling down the hill, "Ayy! Ohh! Ow! Okay..."

"This is no time for horseplay, Tails. You're supposed to be up there lookin' out for..." Merlin sees the bad guys as Leroy held out his laser gun and Rito his flamethrower, snickering, "Evil Erin and the villains!" The foxes all pop out in terror and screamed. The fox colony runs around in a mad chaotic dash for cover.

"Whoa, look at 'em scramble," said Leroy.

"And that's just how I like 'em," Evil Erin added. A group of foxes, led by Merlin, crash in a line right into Evil Erin's snout, "Scrambled," she slurps them, lifting Merlin into the air; the foxes are disgusted and the whole colony scramble about, "…And a little bit runny." The group of foxes goes running by, followed by the laughing villains, passing Tails who's standing there covering his head.

"Villains!" the foxes screamed. A hand reaches up and grabs Tails; he strains to stay where he is, but gradually the hand manages to drag him head-first into a hole. It's his parents.

"Get in here! What are you, crazy?" Rosemary asked. Rito guards a hole, and snaps at a bunch of foxes who jump into it one at a time; he misses all of them, but blocks the hole before Merlin can get in.

"Stumpy?" Amadeus called.

"Here!"

"Flinchy?"

"Here!"

"Swiftly?"

"Here!"

"Oh, what a relief. Everybody's…Amadeus gasps, "Where's Merlin?" Merlin is outside, running for his life as the three hyenas pursue him, screaming for his life. Merlin makes desperately for a second tunnel entrance, where a bunch of foxes appear and gasp at the sight.

"Merlin! Run for your life!" the first fox shouted.

"Play dead!"

"Ándale!"

"Almost there!"

The screen switches suddenly to the QVC shopping channel, where two women are selling a suede handbag, "Suede _is_ the look for this fall. Of course, that _is_ what's happening up in every magazine. What I like about it, other than you've got that long strap, which can clear your coat..." Tails, Erin, Alyssa and Bonkers are back in the silhouetted theater seats.

"Hey, what's goin' on? Alyssa, you're sitting on the remote," said Erin.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I thought it was a brownie," Alyssa chuckled. Erin clicks the remote; we switch back to the scene of Merlin's impending demise.

"You've got it, Merlin!" another fox shouted. Merlin is overtaken by the villains; the foxes all shield their eyes as we hear crunching sounds. Switch to the inside of the burrow, where the foxes stand in shock; suddenly, Merlin drops from the ceiling, the fur bitten off his tail.

"Merlin! Is he alright?" the fox asked.

"I flinched when I should've scurried," Merlin collapsed. Outside, the villains guffawing are walking off.

"Ha ha! Oh, man! It just never gets old, does it?" Rito asked.

"Ooh, the classics never do, Rito," Evil Erin replied. Back underground the two-tailed foxes glared angrily at Tails as he stood in the middle.

"I, uh... I guess I owe everyone an apology," Tailed pauses, "All right, so I made a _teensy_ mistake. Like we all haven't broken into song on sentry duty before. Ha ha ha... come on. Let me have a show of hands," the foxes all wander off, disgusted; Tails tries to change tactics, "Okay. ...Maybe it's a little too soon, but I'm sure we're all gonna laugh about this someday. Trust me." Merlin and all of the foxes are all staring at him severely.

"I _did_ trust you," Merlin said, glaring at his nephew.

"But…" Tails paused. The foxes all silently file out, except for Amadeus and Rosemary as Tails sighed. That evening, Tails is hunched; Amadeus and Rosemary emerges from the hole and approaches him.

"Aw, son," said Rosemary.

"I'm never gonna fit in here. Nobody even likes me," Tails said, sadly.

"Sure they do, honey. Sure they do!" said Rosemary.

"Besides you and Dad, Mom," Tails said.

"Uh, besides us? Um, there's, uh...," Amadeus tried to explain.

"I have to find my place; but it isn't here,"

"Yes it is. We just haven't found it yet. But we will..." Rosemary combs Tails' hair, "Oh, here's an idea. You can run a trail…"

Tails got up, impatient, "Stop with the hair already. My place is out there, Mom, Dad. Oh, I may not know exactly where or how far, but I gotta go!"

"No, wait, wait, wait. I know. If we just..." Amadeus desperate tries to explain the last idea.

"Dad…" Tails looks at his father, pointed. Amadeus pauses, then acquiesces, "Well, we hope you find what you're looking for, son." Tails smiled and comes back to embrace his parents.

"Ooh. Ooh, I love you. Mmm!" Rosemary hugged Tails.

"I love you Mom, Dad," said Tails. His parents hugging him, tighter and tighter until we start to hear crunching sound effects.

"Oh Tails. Our Tails. Mmm-mmm..." Rosemary kept hugging Tails.

"Mom... choking... not breathing..." Tails muffed, straining.

"Ooh. Mmm. Mmm-mmm."

Tails stand aside, "And people wonder why I have issues." They finally broke the hug and Tails begins to walk off.

"I'll be okay!" Tails said reassuring.

"Oh, we know you will," Amadeus said wistful, "You will." His parents slowly lets go of Tails' hands. Tails turns away, then begins striding purposefully away into the sunset.

"Be careful!" Rosemary called.

"I will!" Tails shouted, as he marches on a bit farther.

"Don't talk to strangers!"

"I know, Mom!" Tails marches a bit more.

"Remember, wash behind your ears!"

Tails turns impatiently, "Mom, I'm not a cub anymore!" he resumes marching.

"Never go swimming without a buddy!"

"Got it!"

"Send us a message!" Rosemary's voice is still heard far away. Tails groaned, "Oy!" Tails turns back and shouts at the top of his lungs, "What?!"

"I said, send us a message!"

"What?!"

"I _said_, send us a…"

Tails turns back to his path, waves her off, "Good-bye, Mom!" Tails walks off to find a perfect place in his life.

Well, Tails' journey had just begun. The next chapter is where he meets his first crush and later on, his friends.


	4. Beyond What You See

Do forgive me day absence, I got that darn flu, but now I feel much better. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

"And so, with high spirits I boldly ventured off where no two-tailed fox had _dared_ to go before. I put my past behind me, ha!" Tails narrated, the movie shows Tails moving on during the night, "And never looked back." But he was wrong Tails stopped walking and breaks suddenly into sobbing.

"Mommy! Daddy! Aah! Ha ha!" Tails cried some more. Far shot of Tails, revealing that he is standing next to Kakashi's baobab tree, "What am I doing?" Tails sobs; shot changes to a close-up, "Which way should I go?"

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared upside-down, hanging from a tree, "That depends on what you seek."

Tails does a wild take, goes sprawling. Cut back to the theater seats and silhouettes; Tails pauses the movie, "How convenient. Enter omniscient monkey, right on cue."

"Well, you know what they say. When the student is ready, the teacher appears," said Bonkers.

"That's it. No more fortune cookies for you," said Alyssa, she slicks the remote; the movie resumes.

"Hey, where'd you come from?" Tails asked.

Kakashi laughs, "Oh, the better question is, where are you going?"

"Oh, someplace wonderful, mister, where... where y—you didn't happen to catch the song I sang a few minutes ago, did ya?" Tails asked, earnestly.

"I didn't have the pleasure," Kakashi answered.

"To recap: I want to live in some beautiful place, _outside_... a carefree place where I don't have to hide or worry."

Kakashi jumps down next to Tails, "Whoo! Hoo hoo hoo! Life without worry. You seek Hakuna Matata."

"Harpoon a tomato?" Tails asked, very confused.

"Hakuna Matata, it means 'No Worries,'" Kakashi corrected.

"Perfect! Mind taking that book of yours and drawing me a map, bub?" Kakashi smacks him over the head with the book, "Ow! Hey!"

Kakashi goes into his mystic-ninja pose, "To find it, you must look _beyond_ what you see."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, look beyond what you see!"

"Beyond what I see," Tails began to imitate Kakashi's voice, "Ha. Get a load of the monkey, gettin' all existential on me. Beyond what I see," he sees a frog croaking on a rock, "Hmm... Beyond what I see," pans over to a tree stump a little farther away, "Beyond what I see," pans to a tree in the distance, "It's kinda hard to think with all this music. Beyond... what I see..." suddenly, he hears something fighting not too far away; he ran towards a tall rock and gasped of what he saw.

It's Evil Erin fighting two girls and it looks like they're losing. The first girl has short, short strawberry blonde hair and the same glasses only she had her ears piece two times with the colors blue and silver because they remind her of ice and water. She wears a baby blue long sleeved shirt a pink heart in the middle, blue jean shorts, pink leg  
warmers that goes to her knees, baby blue and white shoes, and has her pink  
backpack.

The next girl has blonde hair down while the top half is tied, blue green eyes, and she wore gold hoop earrings, black shirt with short torn sleeves that has a white cat in the middle and diamond-like rhinestones that say "LIONESS" underneath in fancy handwriting, purple safari vest, purple miniskirt with black leggings, purple belt with a lioness head buckle, white socks, and white shoes with purple laces.

Both of the girls are losing against Evil Erin. Tails needs to think of something quick, "I've got to do something. If I confront that Anti-Toon, I'm dead! There must be another way!" Tails looked around quickly, but he had an idea.

Meanwhile, Evil Erin is ready to finish the girls off, "It seems that this will be your grave!" Suddenly, Tails used his tails to create the strong wind, making Evil Erin unable to see; he grabs the girls and they ran off. As the wind begins to stop, Evil Erin looked around and saw that the girls had disappeared. Evil Erin let out an angry scream and walked off to look for Rito and Leroy.

Meanwhile, Tails and the girls took a deep breath as they rested from that fight.

"You two alright?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thank you. I'm Erinbubble92, but call me Erin," Erin replied as she blushed; Tails Blushed, too.

"And I'm Alyssalioness94; you can call me Alyssa," Alyssa added.

"What's your name?" Erin asked, blushing.

"I'm Miles Prower, but my family calls me Tails," Tails replied.

"What are you doing in this field alone?" Erin asked.

"Well, I just talked to that ninja and he told me to look beyond what I see. I'm trying to find a new place in my life."

"Alyssa and I can go with you…if that's alright."

"Sure, I don't mind. Now, where was I, oh yeah...beyond what we see," Tails focuses in on Dragon Cave in the far distance, "Oh, wait a second. It's comin' to me. It's either that slug I ate or I'm having an epiphany! Girls, we're going to the big dragon-face rock! Right, ninja?" Tails turns around, but Kakashi is gone.

"Who was that strange ninja?" Erin asked, "Ah, well. Dream home, here we come." Tails marches off with Erin and Alyssa in the direction of Dragon Cave. They enter a stand of tall grasses. A snapping sound startles them as Erin clings to Tails.

"Ah... oh-h... hello? Strange but wise ninja?" Tails asked.

"I hope it's not the hyenas," said Erin.

"Or cheetahs," Alyssa added. A flock of birds takes off and startles them again. They climb up on a rock; then they heard a weird grunting roar, and see a bulky shape rushing in their direction. They tumble off the rock and rushes blindly through the grass as the ominous roaring sound pursues them, "Oh! Oh! Aah!" Tails, Erin and Alyssa crashes into a bobcat, wearing a lime, green shirt, blocking their path. The four began to scream, one by one. Erin pauses the movie.

"You know, first impressions are very important" said Bonkers.

"Oh, I thought you were a scream," Tails added, the move resumes.

Tails, the bobcat and the girls kept screaming. "Just eat us now... and please make it fast. I got a low threshold for pain," said Tails.

"Easy, easy there, little guy. I'm not gonna eat you and the girls," said the bobcat.

"What? You're not?" Erin asked, indignant, "Then why were you stalking us?"

"Well, gee, I saw you go by and I figured three people like you shouldn't be out here all alone," the bobcat replied.

"Hey, what about you? You're all alone," Alyssa suddenly apprehensive, "You _are_ all alone, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Most animals give me a pretty wide berth," the bobcat replied, ruefully.

Tails sees the seeds of an idea, "They do? Even the hungry ones?"

"Yeah, I drive almost everyone away. People see me comin' and they run for cover. They can't get out of the way fast enough."

Tails is holding up one of the bobcat's hands, playing with it like a pair of scissors, "You don't say, you don't say. Must be the gleam on those nice tools, huh? Strikes fear into their hearts."

"Actually, they say I wreck their appetite,"

Erin is scheming, "Wow, it's like you have this—this... special power."

The bobcat backed away, nervously, "Special power? Well, i-it's pretty powerful, all right."

"Perfect! You're hired," said Tails.

"Great! ...For what?"

"To get us to a little worry-free haven out of that big dragon-faced rock," Tails pointed at the cave.

"And... you want me to come with you and the girls?"

"Ha ha! Do you see any other big lovable chunk of bobcat here, who also happens to have razor-sharp tusks and the ability to repel predators?" Tails grins.

"I'm your cat."

"You, the girls and me, I can tell... we see eye to eye."

"You mean, like friends?"

"Whoa, easy there, big fella. I'd say more like…acquaintances."

"Oh," the bobcat feels disappointed, "Well, it's a start."

"Put 'er there, acquaintance," Erin, Tails, Alyssa and the bobcat shook hands, "I'm Erin."

"Call me Alyssa," Alyssa added.

"Name's Tails," added Tails.

"Bonkers D. Bobcat," said Bonkers.

"No, really," said Alyssa, Bonkers grins sincerely at her, "All right then. Let's hit the road."

"You got it... _acquaintance_," said Bonkers.

"So clear up one thing for us. If you weren't gonna eat us, what kind of a wacky wild bobcat are you?" Erin asked.

"I'm an insectivore," Bonkers replied.

"Oh ho! A bug eater! Well, us too. I just never had a name for it. We're kinda partial to the crawly critters ourselves. How about you, big boy?" Tails asked.

"I prefer the ones with wings."

"Bonkers, this could be the start of a beautiful... acquaintanceship."

Tails continues his journey, along with his crush and friends. Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	5. Bonkers' Special Power

Here's the part where Bonkers reveal his 'special power.'

The sunrise begins, from the prologue.

MS: _**Nants ingonyama bagithi baba**_

BS: _**Sithi uhhmm ingonyama**_

Erin, Tails, Alyssa and Bonkers enter the scene, walking across the sunrise from left to right.

"Okay, so now we're back at the beginning. Right, Tails?" Bonkers asked

"Oh, you got that right, pally," Tails narrated, "At last, things were looking up. I had the sun on my shoulders, the wind at my heels, a song in my heart." The four freaked out as the people and animals all bear down on them and they screamed. They raced out from under all the roaring and screeching animals as they rush past.

"And to protect us, a great big fat guy!" said Tails.

Bonkers pauses the move at the silhouettes; he looked shocked, "You really think I look fat?"

"Oh, Bonkers, Bonkers, Bonkers. You're a bobcat. It's a compliment!" Tails replied.

"Oh-ho-ho. Thank you!" Bonkers mollified. Bonkers resumes the movie. Dragon Cave rises before the four of them as the crest a small hill; a deep dragon roar sounds.

FS: _**It's the Circle of Life  
And it moves us all...**_

"Whoo-hoo! There it is the dragon-faced rock! Oh, baby, we're almost there," said Erin. A record-needle scratching sound accompanies them screeching to a halt as the suddenly see that Dragon Cave is surrounded by hundreds of people and animals.

"I think we're a little late," said Bonkers.

"It's a land rush. That loudmouth ninja! He must've blabbed it to the whole world!" Tails shouted.

"What exactly did he say?" Alyssa asked.

"Look beyond what you see," Tails replied, imitating Kakashi.

"So maybe you're supposed to look _beyond_ the dragon-faced rock," Bonkers explained.

'Maybe I'm supposed to look beyond the dragon-faced rock!' Tails thought.

"Hmm?" Bonkers asked.

"Well... let's have a little look, shall we? Beyond what I see... beyond what I see... beyond what I see..." said Tails. The camera pans past Dragon Cave (where Kakashi is carrying Jake to the tip of the promontory) and all the gathered animals to a small hill with a little cave in it right behind the Cave, "The ninja's got an eagle eye for real estate!"

"Guys, look!" Bonkers indicating the impending ceremony.

"He-he-hey! It's the ninja!" said Alyssa.

"What's that he's holdin' up?" Bonkers asked.

"Aw, who cares? It's not important. Come on! My dream home awaits," said Tails. They approach the gathering of animals from behind, rising in front of them like a wall. Bonkers nervously shrinks back away from them, "Uh... I don't do so well in crowds. Maybe we better go around."

"Don't you know the shortest distance between me and my dream home is a straight line? Follow us!" said Tails as he and the girls leads Bonkers straight into the breach.

"Oh," said Ben Tennyson.

"Excuse us!" said Erin.

"Ow!" Rika yelled

"Hello!" Ulrich shouted.

"Goodness!" Edd added.

"Make room, make room. Watch it, Carebear. I'm walkin' here!" said Tails.

"Carebear?! Well, I never!" Flippy snapped. People and animals snort and glower at them as the push their way through the crowd. Suddenly, Bonkers starts to go a little crazy; he sits down in "emergency" mode, "Uh, guys? There's something I have to tell you."

"Bonkers, Bonkers, Bonkers. We'll have a plenty of time to chat once we settle in," said Erin. Bonkers begins to panic, "I could really use a rest stop."

Alyssa tries to get him back on track, "Don't worry. You'll get your second wind."

"Ohh! I got a really bad feeling!" Bonkers breaks into sweat.

"It'll pass. Trust me! It'll pass," said Tails. Suddenly, Bonkers begin to go crazy! He slips on a banana peel, making him slip. He placed his fingers on his lips up and down, stretch and yells like crazy. Lastly, he knocks Guano down.

"Look, Guano is bowing," said Naruto.

"We'd better bow, too!" Sakura added; she and the other ninjas bowed, follow by the Happy Tree Friends in front of them, then more of the people and animals all laid out in splendid array as they seen from the perspective of Dragun, Kakashi and Dojo at the tip of the promontory.

"Look, sire, how they kneel before the royal son," said Dojo. Bonkers, Tails, Erin and Alyssa stand at the epicenter as Bonkers calms down.

"So, I guess that's your special power, huh? What a weapon!" Erin shouted, very impressed.

"Uh, you mean, you don't mind?" Bonkers asked.

"Are you kidding it was some Toon Craziness!" Tails laughed.

"Well, I don't like to go very crazy like Daffy Duck…" said Bonkers, with his spirits rise a little.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Tailed paused for the beat, "Let's go, Bonkers.

"Lead the way!" Bonkers added. The group wind their way through the prostrate people and animals as the beams of sunlight fall on Jake high atop the promontory above them. Later on, they made it to Tails and the girls dream home.

"This is it, buddy-boy. Home sweet home! And I don't gotta share it with anybody. Ha ha ha!" Tails laughed.

"Excuse me?!" Erin snapped.

"Oh except you girls, I'll share it with you," Tails chuckled.

"Don't you get, you know, lonely out here?" Bonkers asked.

"Lonely? Try commitment-free," Tails ties up three hammocks for him and the girls and lay down, "The elbow-to-elbow life reminds me a little too much of home. This place has everything. Cool refreshments," Bonkers hands him a massive bowl of slush, "cozy little hammock, a lovely water feature—and it's all ours."

"Oh…" Bonkers takes in the fact that he's not being factored in; tries to handle it bravely, "Well... it's really coming together, Tails, so, uh, so I guess I'll just be going," he walks off slowly.

"Wait a minute, now wait-wa-wait. There's no _law_ that says you _have_ to go. I mean, if you want…" said Erin.

Bonkers zipped back, quickly, "Ooh, great! I already made up four beds!" The camera shows the four grass beds, one much bigger than the other and the medium size for the girls, "One for you, one of each for the girls and one for me!"

Tails yawns luxuriantly as the girls got into their beds, "Ohh! Gee, all this construction work has me bushed. Think I'll turn in early," he crawls over the smaller bed and makes himself comfortable in the larger, Bonkers-sized bed, "Oh yeah."

Bonkers circles around twice, then somehow stuffs himself into the smaller bed. A leg pops out sideways, but he gets comfortable anyway, "Good night."

"Sleep tight," Tails said.

"Dream of bedbugs tonight," Erin added. They all fell asleep. Dissolve to the exterior of the cave; camera trucks out slowly as the scene gradually switches to daylight.

"Home sweet home indeed," Erin narrated.

This dream home won't be the home that Tails dreams of. The next chapter is where they go on a wild adventure to find a new home.


	6. Tails' Dream Home

Now's the time for their crazy adventure to find a new dream home. And to army of perverts…you're lame, loser!

Erin, Tails, Alyssa and Bonkers are sleeping as daylights stream in. Erin is awakened gradually by the muffled sound of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" pounding in from above; she woke up, groaning, and gets up fetches a long stick, and uses it to bang on the ceiling, "Hey, keep it down up there!"

Bonkers woke up, "We have neighbors? We should go say hello."

"Noisy neighbors. There go the property values," said Erin. As they emerge from the cave, they find themselves in the middle of the ostentatious finale of the song, with the people and animals forming a huge pyramid with Jake, Rose, Danny and June on top.

Jake: _**Standing in the spotlight!**_

Chorus: _**Let every creature go for broke and sing  
Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing  
It's gonna be King Jake's finest fling**_

_**Oh, I just can't wait to be king!  
Oh, I just can't wait to be king!**_

"Oh, perfect. We moved to the theater district! Get a load of these guys," Tails thwacks Naruto with a stick, "Knock it off!"

Naruto's eyes pop wide open and he loses his balance; one by one, all the rest of the people and animals collapse on top of and around him.

_**Oh, I just can't wait...**_

"Tails look out!" Bonkers snatched Tails out of the way of the impending disaster.

_**To be king!**_

The pyramid of people and animals collapses on top of the cave opening, the group inside.

"I'm okay!" said Jake.

"Oy. Phew. Show people," said Alyssa. Later, the group moves on to an unspecified location. "Chin up, guys," Tails brushes the branch aside, "Whoa! Our dream home's around here somewhere."

"You know, Tails, I once came across a place that might be just what you're looking for," Bonkers explained, "Spectacular waterfalls, set in a lush tropical oasis. A scrumptious array of…"

Tails interrupted, "Hey, hey, hey. Forget it, Bonkers. I'm a realist, and I'm not gonna go chasing after some fantasy. We're going to look beyond what we see."

"But if you always go beyond what you see, how do you know when you're there?" Bonkers asked.

Tails got impatient, "Oh, I'll tell you how I know. We're there!" gestures stubbornly at the surroundings: the Cartoon Graveyard, "This is a lovely spot. Lovely. Rustic. Picturesque. Home sweet home, Bonkers. Mm-hmm. Home sweet ho…" A chunk of a skull that he's leaning against gives way, and he collapses inside, "Aah! Whoop! Ah ha ha ha! I—I mean, sure... it needs a little work. But it's got good bones. Ha ha ha! After all... this is an elephant graveyard. And who would ever come to an elephant graveyard? ...Aaaahh!"

A roar precedes the arrival of Dragun, leaping over the skeleton where the group had been, before diving out of the way just in time. As Dragun rushes off stage left, Dojo flies after him, briefing him on the situation.

"Sire, the villains are after the children!" Dojo shouted.

The group watches wide-eyed from the sinus cavity of the log, as the shadows cast on them pantomime the scene of Dragun beating up the bad guys.

"I see dragons," Alyssa whispered. Later on, Erin on yet another search for the perfect home. She's going stir-crazy by now. They're moving through the thermal-vent area where Dialgos lives.

"Beyond what'cha see... beyond what'cha see... Ha ha ha ha ha! Beyond what you see..." Erin said in a nervous reek.

"Uh, guys? Would this be a bad time to bring up that little place I told you about?" Bonkers asked. Erin throws herself down on a steam vent, "Hey! This is home sweet home, baby! Home…" the steam vent erupts, sending Erin into the air, "Aaaah! Ow! Ha ha!" Erin's on the verge of cracking, "Steam! Ha ha! Steam is good. Steam is—is—is water. Whoo! Gotta have water. You know, for the dream home. Steam home, dream home! Steam, steam, steam," she gets a hold of her affects a British accent briefly, "I am perfectly happy r-r-right here. It's remote, private, no unexpected visitors..."

A green light suddenly floods the area, and "Be Prepared" begins. Goose-stepping villains march past them, casting shadows on the wall.

"Somethin' tells me this ain't the traveling company of 'Riverdance,'" said Tails. They pause for a beat, then hop to their feet and "Riverdance" away. Later on, again, they moved on.

"Beyond what you see... beyond what you," Alyssa turns toward the camera, shudders, "Uhh-h. Hey, how am I supposed to look beyond what I see, beyond _that_?" Camera reveals he's looking straight at Bonkers' tail.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," said Bonkers, he moves aside to reveal the Gorge in its entire splendor.

Alyssa trudging along the parched floor of the Gorge, "What this place lacks in water and shade, it makes up for with searing heat and blinding sunshine. Home sweet home, Bonkers!" Alyssa whimpers a little with desperation, just as the ground begins to rumble. Birds flock into the air from the gorge's rim; Tauros begin to pour over the edge and down into the valley floor. They rapidly approach the group in a massive stampede.

"Shall we run for our lives?" Bonkers asked, affecting a gracious, leisurely air.

"Oh, yes, let's," Tails replied, affecting the same air. They all scream and take off running in front of the huge herd of wildebeests. They end up on top of one Tauros' head, then they see the herd separate before them to reveal a cliff's edge.

"Hang on, guys!" Bonkers shouted.

"This is it!" Erin screamed, "Good-bye, cruel world!" The Tauros screeches to a halt at the edge of the cliff, pitching the group off in slow motion, screaming. After a few midair tumbles, they land lightly in a slow-moving river.

"That's it?" Tails scoffs, "That wasn't so bad. You can't knock old Tails down that easy! Yeah. Bring it on!" He notices an increasing roar of rushing water, and sees that they're approaching the top of a waterfall, "Uh, Bonkers? Question: is it possible to fall off the edge of the Earth?"

"Uh, technically, no. The Earth is round like a sphere, Tails, so it doesn't actually _have_ an edge," Bonkers answered. The camera pulls back once, twice, three times to reveal an absurdly high waterfall. The group screams as they hurtle over the edge. Right in the middle of the fall, Bonkers pauses the movie; back to the silhouettes.

"You mind if I pause it for a second?" Bonkers asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Tails replied.

"We'll be right back!" said Alyssa. Tails cracks his neck one way and then the other, grunting. As Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa clatters off-screen, Tails scratches in his ear, sniffs, hums "It's a Small World After All", and casually picks his nose. Just as the sound of a popcorn popper comes to a stop, Tails pulls out a big booger, which squishes between his fingertips. He gasps as he realizes Bonkers and the girls are coming back. He frantically looks for a tissue; seeing none, he tries to shake it off his hand, then to flick it off. Finally he wipes it on the seat just as Bonkers and the girls' returns, with a huge bag of bugs.

"Okay, I got the jumbo so we could share," Bonkers pauses for a beat, as he realizes Tails is just sitting there stock-still, "Were you just picking your nose?"

"No! I had an itch on the inside!" Tails said, indignantly. He grabs some bugs and chows down, then clicks the remote. The movie resumes, with the group plummeting down the waterfall and screaming. During the night, Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa emerges from the water, gasping and wheezing; Tails is clutching Bonkers' tail and being dragged to safety, but otherwise limp. Bonkers and the girls collapse and cough up some water. Tails comes to and groans. They turn to face him; Tails is lying on the beach clutching a lily in a classic death pose.

"Tails, are you okay?" Erin asked.

Tails is at the end of his rope, "Uhh. I give up!"

"But... but you can't give up! We still haven't found our dream home," said Bonkers.

"Forget it, Bonkers. I've been dragging you down long enough. I'm goin' home... and I suggest you do the same and the girls," said Tails.

"Oh, I—I would if I could, but I can't," said Bonkers.

"Oh, sure you can, buddy. I won't stop you," said Tails.

"No, I mean... I don't have a home," Bonkers corrected.

"You don't? What happened—are you lost?" Tails asked, Bonkers shakes his head.

"No place good enough for you?" Erin asked, Bonkers shakes again, "What, you're all alone in this big empty world?" Bonkers turns to face the others, with huge dewy eyes.

"Oh," Tails gets up, "Truth is... I'm all alone too."

"We're alone, too, but we have each other," said Erin, "Bonkers, you're the only friend we've ever got."

"Y-you mean..." Bonkers said, brighten up.

"Yeah, Bonkers…and friends stick together to the end," said Alyssa. The four gaze at each other sniffling. Tails' reflection appears in Bonkers' eyes as the music swells. Suddenly the movie pauses and switches back to the theater seats, where Tails is hunched over and sobbing.

"Tails? Are you crying?" Erin asked, shocked.

"I'm fine! I—I just have something in my eye," Tails sobbed.

"Here, blow," Erin handed him the hanky.

"Ohh," Tails blows his nose; hands the hanky back," Thanks, Erin.

"Gee, thanks," Erin said sarcastically.

"Okay, I'm better," Tails resumes the movie. Later, the four slept on the beach gradually the scene changes to daylight.

Now they've became friends. In the next chapter, the group finally found their dream home


	7. Hakuna Matata, Again

**Okay, now that I'm done with the other stories that I couldn't get out of, I've made a promise to Erin to continue with this story.**

During the daylight, the group is still sleeping, until Tails woke up and took a stretch; he cracked his back, stretching, "Aw, well. It's too bad we never found that perfect place. Why'd we ever listen to that stupid ninja?"

Erin, Alyssa and Bonkers woke up, when Bonkers gasped, "I think maybe you're giving up too soon, Tails."

Tails sneered, "Beyond what you see…" Bonkers grabs his head and spins it around to face what he sees, "huh?"

"Remember that place I told you about?" Bonkers asked triumphantly, as he and the others saw the gorgeous jungle panorama: waterfalls, woods, distant mountains, lush lakes and rivers.

"Forget about _your_ place. Get a load of what _I_ found! Talk about "beyond what you see"!" said Tails, "Guys, this is our dream home!"

Erin pulling aside vines to demonstrate, "Dramatic views!" she pulled the vines for Bonkers to swing in them, "Your very own porch swing!"

The four of them relaxing in a pool which is bubbling merrily, "Hot tub and spa!" said Alyssa. Tails pulled open a tree to reveal dozens of bugs, "Well-stocked cupboard!"

Bonkers slurps up all the bugs, "Let's celebrate," he said, mouthful. 

Tails is on a vine stretched across the water as the girls sunbathe, "The ninja was right. We found it: the perfect life," he dives into the water. Bonkers is wearing a chef's hat of leaves; stacking bugs on a skewer, "I'll just whip up a little something."

Tails dries off with a leaf, "He had the perfect name for it, too."

"Come and get it!" Bonkers tossed bugs in a large leaf-bowl.

"Such a wonderful phrase. It had this rhythm," Tails began to think, "Laduda Ladada..."

"Try this... Hot tuna frittata," Bonkers held out a leaf dish.

"Hmm... No, that's not it," Tails said, not paying attention.

"The spinach armada."

"Quiet Bonkers, he's trying to think," said Alyssa.

"A spoon of ricotta," said Bonkers, setting out a bowl of bug-mush.

"Two words," said Erin.

"A wormy piccata," Bonkers held another dish.

"Six syllables," Tails added.

"Kahuna colada," Bonkers held yet another dish.

"Twelve letters," added Alyssa.

"A blue enchilada."

"Rhymes with..."

"Legumes on a platter."

"Think, think, think," Tails continues to think.

"This oughtta be hotter."

"I forget!" Tails said, desperate.

"I gotta lambada!" Bonkers starts dancing, trotting sideways until he bumps into Tails; his hat rolls off. Tails grabs hold of his ears and yells, "Hey! How can you dance at a time like this? I'm dyin' here!" Tails realized that he's gone a bit too far, he lets go and backs off, "Sorry about that, pal."

"Hakuna Matata," Bonkers said, nonchalant.

Tails shakes his head in confusion along with the girls, "Come again?"

"Hakuna Matata. It means "no worries." Eh…" Bonkers realized, "Oh…"

Wipe to the four of them swinging on vines into the water. As they're both in midair, the movie pauses.

"Hey guys. I got an idea. Let's do a sing along," Bonkers said, off-screen.

"Oh, you tease," said Erin, as a ladybug appears on-screen, near the words HAKUNA MATATA which appear at the bottom, "I love karaoke! I'm there."

As the lyrics appear on the screen, over a montage of Tails, Erin, Alyssa and Bonkers enjoying their carefree life, the ladybug hops from syllable to syllable as they sing the words.

All four: _**Hakuna Matata**_

_**What a wonderful phrase**_

_**Hakuna Matata**_

_**Ain't no passin' craze**_

The ladybug disappears after dancing across "CRAZE"

Tails: _**It means no worries, for the rest of your day**_

"Wait a second," said Tails. _Camera pulls back to show the silhouettes. Tails is singing into a microphone; Bonkers is chewing and crunching on something. Tails pauses the movie._

"Bonkers…where's the grub?" Tails asked, quietly. Bonkers opens his mouth; the ladybug staggers out, all mauled up.

"Ohhh. You just can't help yourself, can you?" Alyssa asked, exasperated.

"Sorry," Bonkers apologized.

Okay... but this time, show a little self control," Tails resumes the movie. The bug is now staggering across the words and getting bounced around by the pair's on-screen antics: floating down a river cascade, bungee-jumping on jungle vines, parachuting on leaves, Tails and Erin slurping up a long worm and ending in a kiss as in "Lady and the Tramp"

Tails: _**Hakuna Matata! Ha-haah!**_

The four scream as they bungee-jump.

Four: _**It means no worries**_

_**For the rest of your days**_

_**It's our problem-free**_

_**Philosophy**_

_**Hakuna Matata**_

It becomes a chant as they shuffle along the now-famous log, dancing and singing.

_**Hakuna Matata**_

_**Hakuna Matata**_

_**Hakuna Matata**_

_**Hakuna Matata  
Hakuna Matata  
Hakuna Matata  
Hakuna Matata...**_

Sudden cut to a close up to Rosemary and Amadeus. "Hahuna Ma-what-a?" Rosemary asked, taken aback.

Kakashi is talking to Tails' parents under the two-tailed foxes' tree by the rock, "It means, 'no worries.'"

"I see…" Rosemary said, skeptical.

"So, I told the boy: To find Hakuna Matata, you must look beyond what you see," Kakashi explained.

"Ohh. A metaphor," Amadeus understands.

"Well, actually, it's not a meta…" Kakashi gets clonked in his head with his own book. Rosemary is enraged, "You used a _metaphor_ on Tails! He takes things _literally_," she panicked, "That's it. He's starving out there. I just know it! Merlin! Tails' out there chasing metaphors. I've gotta go find him!"

"Are you _nuts!_" Merlin called from inside a hole; his voice shakes the ground.

Rosemary is disgusted, "Nice to have a supportive family isn't it? Well, here we go."

"Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step," Kakashi said, sagely.

"Thanks. Here's _my_ first step:" said Rosemary.

"Honey, don't do it," Amadeus begged, but it's too late; Rosemary jumps squarely onto Kakashi's foot. The camera cuts to Tails screaming instead of Kakashi as Bonkers is pulling the quills out of Tails' behind by his hands, "Guess bowling for porcupines wasn't the best idea, huh?"

"Yeah. Gotta be right up there with bobbing for snapping turtles," Tails replied, but screams when Bonkers pulled out another quill.

"Ohh, that's gonna leave a mark," Bonkers mumbled, until he looks up at the sound of Fearow's squawking, "Hey, look, guys. Fearows! What do you say? One more round?"

Camera slowly trucks in on the scene in the desert where the buzzards are clustering around what we know to be Jake.

Tails said sarcastically, "Oh, sure. There must be some part of me we haven't injured yet."

"Oh, please?" Bonkers asked, "Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please?"

"Come on, Tails," said Erin.

Tails stretched wearily, "No, guys. I'm beat. You guys go ahead; I'm callin' it a day," Tails pulled out the last quill and screamed in pain. 

"But it's no fun alone," Bonkers whimpered; he startsto sob and whine like a dog. He begins to turn away, but just then Tails runs back, joining them, "Aw, why not? One more run won't change our lives!" The group goes charging into the desert towards the Fearows. The movie pauses just as they reach the camera. 

Tails begins narrating, "Who knows why fate led us to little Jake that day?" the scene switches, slide-show style, to Bonkers carried Jake on his tusks, Tails and Erin looking terrified, "Maybe it was just my love of adventure..." switch to Jake, in his dragon form, roaring in the jungle, Tails leaping up in terror, "or my innate courage..." Stills show more scenes of Jake terrifying the fur off Tails, "...my valiant and fearless way of... okay, who's in charge of the freeze-frames!" freeze on Tails doing a freakish wild-take pinned up against a tree root.

"Sorry," Bonkers apologized.

"Anywho," Tails continues, "Rescuing Jake was a cinch," Bonkers gathers up Jake on his arms and trots off with him back to the jungle, "Then came the _reeeally_ scary part. ...Parenthood."

**Well, let's see how they take care of little Jake.**


	8. Parenthood

Let's see how the others take care of little Jake

**Let's see how the others take care of little Jake.**

During the night, Bonkers used the stump as a bed, while Alyssa uses the leaves as a bed. Erin, wearing a pink nightgown with a bubble in the middle and her hair down, is sleeping close to Tails. Bonkers kept muttering grubs during his sleep.

_**In the jungle, the mighty jungle  
The lion sleeps tonight  
In the jungle, the mighty jungle  
The lion sleeps tonight**_

"Erin?" 8-year-old Jake Long asked off-screen, "Erin…? _Erin!_"

Erin woke up blearily; seeing Jake's face upside down, "Oh, what is it?"

"I gotta go" Jake said, agitated.

"Go? Go where?" Erin asked.

"You know, _go_. ...Bad!" Jake exclaimed.

Erin, suddenly understood, "Oh, _go!_ Why didn't you say so? Come on, let's go." They rush across the log, the full moon in the background, Erin leading the way, "When you gotta go, you gotta go."

That day, Tails and the others stood there as they saw Jake high on the tree. "Young dragon, get down from here!" Tails yelled, sternly, "It's time for your fire training."

Jake didn't listen as he kept jumping around in the branches, "Whoo-hoo! All right! Hey—you guys look like ants down there."

"I'm counting to three," said Tails, but Jake leaps onto a smaller branch, which breaks under his weight.

"Uh oh," Bonkers didn't like this as Jake falls, silently, while Tails counts.

"One... Two..." as Tails counted to two, Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa threw themselves on top of Tails; Jake lands safely on their arms, "Three," Tails muffled and his arm collapse. That night, the group is asleep.

_**In the jungle, the mighty jungle  
The lion sleeps tonight**_

"Erin?" Jake asked.

Erin woke up suddenly, "Oh! Again?"

Jake looking fairly pathetic, "No, I'm thirsty."

Jake and Erin are walking across the log. "You know this means you'll be up again about two hours from now," said Erin. That day, Jake is floating happily down a river as Tails frantically paddles after him, "Hang on, Jake! I'll save you!" Suddenly, Jake gone over the waterfall, "Yahoooo!" Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa snatch Jake out of midair from an overhanging branch; Tails goes falling past them helplessly, shrieking. At night, the group is sleeping.

"Erin?" Jake looks even more miserable. At the log, Erin is plodding now, slumped over, exhausted, "We're gonna get old walking across this thing."

During the day, Jake, in his dragon form, lies on his back repeatedly batting Tails into the air like a ball of yarn; Tails spins helplessly in midair, wailing. At night, yet again.

_**In the jungle, the mighty jungle  
The lion sleeps tonight**_

"Erin?" Jake asked, timid.

Erin wakes up on edge, "What have you got against the concept of a good nights sleep, huh?" she turns to face the camera; we get a faceful of her bloodshot, staring eyes.

"Actually, I, uh... I had a bad dream," Jake corrected.

"Oh. Well, uh..." Erin wakes up the others.

Bonkers woke up, "Uhh! It wasn't me."

"Junior had a bad dream," said Erin.

"Oh…why don't you sleep over here with us?" Bonkers asked, smiling.

Tails pats on the bed, "Mi bed, su bed."

"All right!" Jake bounds over to them. Jake slept between Erin and Tails, like mother and father.

_**Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling  
The lion sleeps tonight  
Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling  
The lion sleeps tonight**_

"Good night," said Jake.

"Sleep tight," Alyssa added.

"Dream of bedbugs tonight!" Bonkers immediately falls asleep and snores. Jake giggles; he puts a foreleg around Tails and pulls him up tight against him like a stuffed animal.

_**My little darling  
Don't fear, my little darling  
Hey-a, oh, my little darling  
Oh, don't fear, my little darling  
Ingonyama ilele  
Don't fear, my little darling**_

**Well, the next chapter will have a contest, which Jake will be good at.**


	9. Snail Slurping Contest

Now that I've finished my other story, I'll focus on this one so enjoy

Now that I've finished my other story, I'll focus on this one so enjoy.

That morning, with the birds chirping and the sun rising through the trees. The three of them are still snoring, in the same pose—but Jake is now 14-years-old. He wakes, yawns, and stretches.

"Whoa! Watch where you aim that morning breath. That should come with a warning label. Whoo, what a wake-up call!" Alyssa curls up and tries to go back to sleep.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the warthog. What's the matter Alyssa?" Jake patronizing, "Had a little too much Hakuna Matata?"

"Sonny boy, Tails _invented_ Hakuna Matata," said Alyssa.

Jake smug, "Oh, yeah? Well, _I_ perfected it."

"Sure you did, sure you did. Bonkers, who holds the record for the world's longest bug belch?" Alyssa asked.

Bonkers woke up, "Uh, that would be Jake."

Alyssa, Erin and Tails mildly surprised. "All righty then. Who's the champion at slug swallowing?" Tails asked.

"Jake again," Bonkers replied.

Alyssa bolt upright, "Cricket crunching?"

"Jake."

"Grub gulping?"

"Jake."

"Maggot munching?"

"Still Jake."

Alyssa sweats in trepidation, "Snail-slurping?"

"Oh, uh, nobody. We never had a snail-eating contest before," said Bonkers. Later on, the sun creates a lens-flare wash to Jake and Alyssa facing off over a monstrous pile of snails. They narrow their eyes at each other in turn; then both flex their paws like gunslingers.

"I don't think this is such a good idea," said Bonkers, hiding in the bushes with Tails and Erin.

Jake grabs a snail and slurps it straight out of its shell, leaving slime all over his chin. He slams the shell down and leers at Alyssa, who yawns theatrically, then slurps down a snail of her own and folds her arms defiantly. Jake raises a hand with four snails, which he slurps down rapid-fire one after the other, then tosses the shells down and grins devilishly. Alyssa stares back in amazement, her eye twitching; then she swallows four of her own, swats away the shells, and grins a trifle insanely, breathing hard.

Bonkers, Erin and Tails hid in the bushes, looking at one and then the other like in a tennis match, as we hear slurps from one side and then the other in rapid succession. Finally they sinks down in trepidation, and the camera switches back to Jake and Alyssa slumped against opposite ends of the rock, only one snail left in front of each of them. In extreme perspective, Jake reaches for the last one, groans and shudders, then slurps it down; he belches loudly, then tosses the shell away with a drunken smirk. Alyssa picks up her last one, her belly bulging out over the edge of the rock; the snail in her hands morphs into Bonkers, staring back at him.

"I told you this wasn't such a good idea," said Bonkers.

Alyssa suddenly gags, covers her mouth, totters, and collapses; the snail shell flies up into the air, lands, clatters to a halt, and the snail inside pops out and scoots away. The camera trucks back vertically away from Alyssa, passed out and bloated on the ground next to the pile of shells.

"Thus, did the pupil surpass the teacher," Bonkers narrated.

"You've been hangin' around with the ninja again, haven't you?" Alyssa asked. Bonkers, Tails and Erin walks slowly up to Alyssa and helps her up. Alyssa groaned as she watches Jake swaggering away into the trees, "Our Jake is growing up." The group stares after him for a beat.

Alyssa: _**Is this the little boy I carried?**_

Bonkers: _**When did he grow to be so tall?**_

All: _**Wasn't it yesterday when he was small?**_

The background chorus takes up the song as first Tails and Erin, then Bonkers and Alyssa, then a full-grown Jake fly into the air, trampolining off a bunch of hanging vines. All five bounce into the air again, and Jake grabs the other five in a midair embrace.

Background Chorus: _**Sunrise, sunset  
**_

_**Sunrise, sunset  
**_

_**Swiftly fly the years**_

_**One season following another  
**_

_**Laden with happiness and tears**_

The five of them lie on their backs looking up at the stars (no doubt, discussing cosmology); dissolve to the three of them hanging from vines, Jake gently pushing the others so they swing. Finally, dissolve to all three relaxing in the bubbling hot-tub pool.

"So you see, that's why they call it a 'dung beetle,'" Alyssa explained, while Bonkers relaxed as we see only half of his head.

"Eww. You don't say. And yet, still so tasty!" said Jake.

"Oh, yeah. And they're my _favorite_, too," said Tails.

Erin, wearing a light, blue swimsuit with a bubble in the middle, approaches the tub, wearing a leaf around her middle. She tosses the leaf away, dabs a toe in the water, and eases herself in. Erin slipped into the water, relaxing, "Just what the doctor ordered."

"Yep. After a long day of doing nothing, it's good to kick back," said Tails.

"Four pals and no worries. What more could you want?" Jake asked. They all sighed contentedly, relaxing silently for the beat.

Bonkers yawns luxuriantly and scratches himself underwater, "I'm bushed. Think I'll turn in for the night," Bonkers slowly comes out as the bubbles immediately stopped. The group gasped in horror.

"Don't panic. Bonkers made these bubbles with his lips, like Ed does," said Alyssa. They sighed in relief and got out. At the beds, where Jake pounces on Bonkers and gives him a "noogie", then gathers the four of them on next to him.

"Erin, it's your turn to say good night," said Bonkers.

"Good night," said Erin.

"Sleep tight," Jake added.

"Dream of bedbugs tonight," Bonkers finished. Jake rolls over and nearly squashes Bonkers between his body and his foreleg, but Bonkers doesn't wake up. Jake's hand slips off Tails; he sleepily reaches down and pulls it back up like a blanket. Camera trucks back as they all sleep.

Don't forget that there's going to be trouble, when Jake meets his friend again.


	10. Trouble In Paradise

Like I said there's going to be trouble in this chapter

Like I said there's going to be trouble in this chapter.

"You gotta admit, we had a pretty good thing goin' there," Tails narrated, off-screen.

"We coulda gone on like that forever," said Bonkers.

"Except for one teeny weeny little thing we forgot to count on," Erin added. 23-year-old Rose, wearing the Hunts clan uniform pinned Jake, in his dragon form, down onto the ground, pointing her spear at him.

"Rose?" Jake asked, recognizing her. Rose backed off and now recognizing him, follow by his other friends, Danny and June.

"How did you…?" Rose asked.

"But how did you…?" Jake asked.

"This is a disaster guys," said Tails, hiding in the bushes, "A disaster, I tell you!"

"You mean because they've finally found each other like two soulmates joined across the years by the bonds of true love?" Bonkers asked.

Erin patronizing, "Sweet, innocent, little Bonkers," she said in alarmed, "She's going to put a stake right through the heart of our Hakuna Matata!"

"Oh! ...Then I guess we oughtta do something." Bonkers said, unconvinced.

"And I know just what it is. Bonkers...we can't let them feel the love tonight!" said Alyssa.

Later, Tails springs into action. He whispered to Bonkers, Erin, and Alyssa's ear; they nodded and they high five. As Jake and Rose gambol among the trees, Tails parts the tall grasses and leans out to arch his eyebrows at the audience; he then fires a blow-dart at Rose, which sticks in her paw. Jake gallantly plucks it out and threw it aside into the bushes, where it hits Tails, who squeals. Rose pushes under Jake's chin. Tails screams when the dart is stuck on him.

FS: _**Can you feel the love tonight?**_

Tails whispers his plan in the group's ear, in which the word "spider" is audible; they high-five. Erin holds up a big spider, which winks at us; Tails lowers it like a yo-yo towards the two humans. On the way down, the spider passes a fetching female spider, and the music stops abruptly as the spider hops back up to her. The spiders weave a bunch of heart-shaped webs behind the lions as they nuzzle.

_**Can you feel the love tonight?**_

"This is so romantic," Bonkers said, overcome as Tails is wrapped up in a cocoon of spider-silk.

As Jake and Rose pass by, Tails hurls a huge beehive at them. But the bees stay right there above him in a solid cloud; Tails races away with the bees in hot pursuit.

_**Can you feel the love…?**_

Tails now has several bee stings on his head, a black eye swollen shut, and (as he grins and gives the thumbs-up to the group) a missing tooth. The group uncertainly returns the thumbs-up, at the other end of a long vine laid across Jake and Rose's path. The humans mock-wrestle their way across it. Rose stumbles backwards over the vine as Tails and Bonkers pull it taut.

The two humans collapse down the hillside, rolling all the way to the bottom, their movement flinging the group and their vine into the air and across the gully to where they plunge into a tree, disturbing a cloud of butterflies that rushes past the camera as Jake and Rose kissed in the undergrowth.

_**Can you feel the love tonight?  
**_

_**The peace the evening brings  
**_

_**The world, for once, in perfect harmony  
**_

_**With all its living things**_

The group falls out of the tree and crash to the ground. Bonkers got hit on the ground and whacks the side of his head, and a butterfly pops out.

"Well, _that_ worked like a dream," Erin said, sarcastically.

"I did?" Bonkers asked.

"Sarcasm is a foreign language to you, isn't it?" Alyssa pointed at Jake and Rose hugging, "Look!"

_**Can you feel the love tonight?**_

_**You needn't look too far**_

"She's making those eyes," said Tails.

"He's smiling that smile," Bonkers added.

"They're laughing... and hugging... and—and..." Erin couldn't take it; she and the others watched Jake and Rose in their courtship routine.

Erin: _**And if he falls in love tonight**_

_**It can be assume**_

Bonkers: _**His carefree days with us are history**_

All: _**In short our pal is doomed!**_

The group burst into wild sobbing waterworks.

You may give me a few suggestions for the next chapter or for later.


	11. The Storm Comes To A Head

I'm so sorry that I kept you waiting

**I'm so sorry that I kept you waiting. I've been watching Ben 10 Alien Force and it was awesome. Also, today is my boyfriend's birthday, so you may send him a message, saying happy birthday; he's turned 23. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.**

During the twilight, the group walked dejectedly by a waterfall. "Ah, that's it, buddy. We gave it our best shot, but he's a goner," said Tails.

Bonkers heard something in the distance, "Maybe not!"

"You never give up, do you?" Alyssa asked.

"Look!" said Bonkers, while the others look, aghast.

"Listen: You think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life? You don't even know what I've been through!" Jake snapped.

"I would if you just tell us!" Rose snapped back, with Danny and June.

"Forget it!"

"Fine!"

As Jake storms off, the group watches from the sidelines. "Guys, do you know what this means?" Tails asked, very excited.

"Uh, he can't express his feelings, and she has commitment issues?" Bonkers replied.

"We won! Ya ha hahh! We split 'em up!" said Erin.

"And, uh, that's a good thing?" Bonkers asked, while he follows his friends out into the grasslands, where Jake is wrestling with himself, "Uh, he seems to be taking it kinda hard."

"Yeah, I know. Look, I...heh. But it's the best thing for us. I mean, for him!" said Alyssa, the clouds gather on the horizon; as Alyssa turns away, they form into the face of Dragun, "Oh, let's go guys. I think this storm's coming to a head."

Later on, the group tucked themselves in to rest for the night. Hakuna Matata is safe at last, pal, 'cause nothing's gonna take our boy away now," said Tails, later he looks aghast, "He's _gone?_ What do you mean, he's _gone?_"

"It's just like the ninja said. The king has returned," Rose replied. The group just stood there looking completely dumbfolded. June sighs exasperatedly, "Ohh. You want me to go over it _again?!_"

Erin patronizing, "Yes, please. But be a dear and just skip to the part about Jake? Not that your childhood wasn't _fascinating_."

Rose resigned, "Okay, look: Jake's the rightful King. But after he disappeared, Dialgos proclaimed himself the King and formed an alliance with the villains..."

While she continues, Bonkers thought with a concerned expression, 'Poor Jake…The treachery... the villainy... the sheer indescribable horror!'

'Blah, blah, blah. Why is she toying with us? Oh, this crazy chick is gonna eat us!' Tails thought with a concerned expression.

"…Jake has to go home to challenge his uncle and reclaim his rightful place as King," Rose finished when she, Danny and June stares at the group, who stand there silently as crickets chirp.

Danny got frustrated, "Ooooh, don't you get it? Jake _needs_ us! _Now!_" They turn and runs off after Jake.

Tails indignant, "He needs us? Then he shouldn't have left us! If he wants to run off to be "His Highness", well, I say, don't let the branches hit you on the way out! Leave Hakuna Matata to someone who appreciates it," he strides off stubbornly.

"But, Tails…it's not really Hakuna Matata without Jake," said Bonkers.

"What's gotten into you? Not Hakuna Matata? That's crazy talk. Crazy talk, I tell ya! Nothing's changed here. We had Hakuna Matata before Jake, and we've still got it now," said Tails.

"We gotta help our friend, Tails."

"_Et tu, Bonkers_? You're just gonna walk away, give up on all this? What happened to 'friends stick together to the end'? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing!" Bonkers replied, incisively.

"And what about you two?" Tails asked Erin and Alyssa, "Are you going with Bonkers?"

"You know what, Tails? We're going to help Jake, too," Erin replied.

"Fine! Go then!" Tails snapped. Erin turns and stalks off with Bonkers and Alyssa. She looks back over her shoulder to see Tails flopping down in the bed, "I got everything I ever wanted right here," Tails said, stubbornly. Erin turns and trots off, a tear in her eye.

Tails lies in the bed, tapping his toe. He begins to soliloquize to convince himself he's doing the right thing, "Now, this is more like it. Elbow room!" 'Elbow room' echoes an absurd number of times as the camera pulls back repeatedly; Tails collapses in despair, "Uhhhh. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," he tries to sing to cheer himself up; scene switches to various places where the trio used to hang out, "Hakuna Matata... what a wonderful phrase..." he sang, weakly, "Hakuna...Matata..." now pathetically, "ain't no passing craze... it means... unnghh... No Worries," Tails curls up in the indentation where he used to watch the stars; the other two indentations are empty. Suddenly, Kakashi came into the picture, laughing.

Tails held out his hands in rejection, "You. No, no, no. Don't say a word. I know what you're gonna say," Tails imitates Kakashi, "Did you find Hakuna Matata?" Tails said to himself with forced happiness and that gracious air, "Well, yes, I did! Thank you very much! And I am happy... happy, happy, _deliriously_ happy," imitating Kakashi, "Ho ho haaah! I see. Happy, is it? So, if you're so happy, why do you look so miserable?" Tails switches back to himself; Kakashi stares sardonically at the camera, "Miserable, you say? Why should I be miserable? Oh, I don't know. Maybe my four best pals in the world deserted me. Heh. They've... they've headed off on some heroic mission. My friends..." Tails turns despairing, "are gone," Tails saw the light, "...And my Hakuna Matata went with them," Kakashi nods slowly, smiling. Tails indicates his head, "Would you mind?" Kakashi smacks him with his book, "Ay! Thanks! I'm glad we had this talk," Tails clicks his tongue; rushes off.

"My work here is done," said Kakashi.

**Yay! Tails is joining the others, I hope Erin feels better about this.**


	12. Friends Stick Together To The End

Well, Tails is going to join his friends and become a boyfriend

**Well, Tails is going to join his friends and become a boyfriend.**

During the sunset, Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa run in slow motion across the desert sands, frame-for-frame exactly how Jake ran. Suddenly, Tails dashes at normal speed past the slow-motion group; they skids to a stop in confusion. Tails stops and looks back at him with humility. The group looks at him questioningly.

"Friends stick together till the end," said Tails, Bonkers and Alyssa gasps joyfully; they rush together and embrace, sobbing. Erin looked away, crossing her arms as Tails asked, "Erin, would you like to be my girlfriend?" Erin gasped and hugged him, kissing all over his face as Tails' face turned goofy. Tails paused the movie back at the silhouettes.

"What was with the running? If you call this 'running,'" said Tails.

"We were giving you time to catch up," Bonkers replied.

Tails choked up, "Aw, you big lug." The group embraced, while Tails resumes the movie.

"Let's go, buddy. We got a fight to catch!" said Bonkers.

"Let's whip some grass!" said Erin. The group ran toward the dark and drought-ravaged Cartoon Kingdom.

"This is the stuff of legends. An epic struggle—the place where heroes are born. Bonkers...this could be our finest hour," Tails narrated.

Hawaiian drums sound; cut to Tails, Erin and Alyssa in drag, doing the "Hawaiian War Dance."

Erin, Tails and Alyssa: _**Luau!**_

_**If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat**_

_**Eat my buddy Bonkers here because he i…**_

Tails pauses the movie, "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?"

"Oh sure," Bonkers replied. Cut to the group screaming and fleeing before a pack of hunger-mad villains. The group led the villains over a rise and into a cave, screaming. Silence falls as the hyenas search for them inside the cave, holding for a beat.

"What the…" said Leroy. A crazy laugh came inside the cave. The bad guys flee the cave in a panic. The group emerge triumphantly.

"I love the smell of Toon Craze in the morning," said Alyssa. Suddenly the ground begins to crumble under their feet.

"Hey, hey, hey. Move your tush, buddy!" Amadeus shouted from underground. Bonkers skips out of the way of the newly opened hole; Amadeus, Rosemary, Merlin and Miranda Wright are standing in it.

"Mom? Dad? Uncle Merlin?" Tails asked, astonished.

"Oh, Tails!" said Rosemary.

"Tails?" Merlin asked, floored.

"Mom!" Erin said, hugging Miranda.

"What are you doing here?" Tails asked.

"Looking for you and Miranda came with us, looking for her," Amadeus replied, pointing at Erin.

Rosemary embraced Tails, "Aww, Mommy's here." Pause for a beat while Merlin glowers disapprovingly and fingers the flower in Tails' hair; Tails grins sheepishly. Merlin grumbles under his breath.

"Well, let me introduce you to my best friends and my girlfriend," as Tails introduce to his family and Miranda, Bonkers gasps at a sight beyond them, "Aah! Look there's Jake! And that must be his uncle Dialgos!"

Viewpoint switches to show the confrontation between Jake and Dialgos at the tip of the promontory about to take place; Jake is being backed toward the precipice.

"Oh, good, they're talking things out. Which is how it should be. You know, I have a feeling everything's gonna be just fine," Erin turns away from the scene. Lightning strikes the base of Dragon Cave, igniting the brush, just as Jake slips off the tip of the rock, barely holding on. Erin winces, "On the other hand…"

"The villains are up there protecting Dialgos. What do we do?" Bonkers asked.

"Well, I've got a plan," Tails replied.

"How can we help?" Rosemary asked.

"Mom, Dad, Uncle Merlin and Miranda: You're going to dig a trap. We're going to need—dare I say it?—tunnels... lots and lots of tunnels. And guys, you and me... we've gotta get those punks away from Jake," Tails explained.

Bonkers wagged his tail, barely suppressing his excitement, "Ooh, ooh! And lure them into the trap?"

"Oh yeah! Nothing gets past you. Come on, gang. Let's ride," said Alyssa, as she and the others ran off.

"Y'know, something's different about Tails..." Rosemary said, reflective.

"You think?" Merlin shouted in frantic, "He's wearing a dress in front of Erin and Alyssa!"

**Don't go anywhere, the next chapter is where the gang confronts those punks, including Evil Erin.**


	13. Villains In The Hole!

Time to teach those villains a lesson

**Time to teach those villains a lesson!**

Dialgos is away from Jake, with the villains chasing after, while sparks from the fire fly all around. They all wind their way to an area near the top of Dragon Cave, where the villains corner Jake, who snarls at them. The group looks down on them from a ledge above them.

Tails shouted enough for the villains to hear, "Hey Bonkers, what do you call a villain with half a brain?"

Bonkers laughed, but stopped, "Uh beats me, Tails. What?"

"Gifted!" Tails replied and he and the gang laughed; Evil Erin and Leroy scow, but Rito laughed, until Leroy smack him, "They're talking about us!"

Evil Erin menaced, advancing on them, "For your last meal, you're gonna eat those words!"

The gang grinned from the ledge above; suddenly they both zip away, leaving dust clouds in their own shapes that linger for a few moments. They scream as they run down the side of Dragon Cave, until they reach a tunnel entrance.

"Mom, I think we got their attention!" Erin shouted.

"Not yet! Keep stalling!" Miranda shouted from the underground as Merlin kept digging and Amadeus carried support beams. Above, the gang backed up against a rock wall and illuminated by the red firelight.

"Okay…" Alyssa panicked; she begins juggling sticks and dishes, while Bonkers gestures toward him and grins. The villains stop dead, bewildered.

"You gotta be kidding me," Leroy said, nonplussed. Alyssa stands with the dishes balanced on the sticks on his nose and hands, spinning.

"Now, Mom?" Tails asked, panicking.

"Need more time, honey!" Rosemary shouted from underground. The gang link arms and dance, grinning tensely, doing the cancan. The music peters out as the villains glare at them and look insulted.

Erin grasped at straws, "Uh…freestyle!" Hip-hop music plays as the group starts breakdancing. The villains laugh and applaud.

"Ooh, encore, encore!" Evil Erin shouted.

"No, no, no. You mean 'entrée, entrée,'" said Rito.

"No, you right. Let's just eat 'em," Evil Erin, Leroy and Rito advance on them.

"Is it ready, Mom?!" Tails asked at the edge of his wits.

"Not yet! Keep stalling!" Rosemary shouted from underground. Tails nervously drums his fingertips together, chatters his teeth, and bites his nails as the hyenas approach with sinister laughter. Tails gets an idea; he waves his arms in a "time-out" signal.

"Waaait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second," Tails approached the villains.

"Tails, what are you doing?" Bonkers asked.

Tails theatrically, down on one knee, proposal-style, "Evil Erinbubble92 N. Dennis…would you do me the honor of becoming... my bride?" The hyenas are dumbfounded; Bonkers and Alyssa gulps, his mouth falling wide open.

Erin's jaw drop and got angry with an anger sign and fist, "If we ever finish this, remind me to kill you for saying that to her."

Evil Erin pauses for a beat before responding, "I don't think so!"

Tails milked it, "Evil Erin, please. I know what you're thinking: 'We're too different.' 'It'll never work.' 'What will the children look like?"" Bonkers and Alyssa is still frozen with shock, mouth wide open and Erin got steamed.

Evil Erin said in disgust, "Ooh, that violates _so_ many laws of nature."

Tails is backing up against the wall, "Listen to me! The problems of a couple of wacky kids like us don't amount to hill of termites in this nutty circle-of-life thing. And so I ask you: If not now, when? If not me, who?" he said in miserably; pleading, "I'm lonely."

Bonkers tapped Tails on the shoulder; sniffling, putting the best face on his shattered emotions, "Can I be your best man?"

"I say we skip the wedding, and go straight to the buffet!" Tails said. The villains draw near; Rosemary pops up from the hole, "Now?"

"Sure, if you're ready," Tails replied, nonchalant.

Rosemary noticed the villains, "Oh!" she drops back down into the hole; calls to Merlin, "Now, Merlin, now!"

Merlin kicks out one of the tunnel supports, which falls and takes out the rest in a series, like dominoes, "Villains in the hole!" The ground under the villains crumbles and collapses; they back off, yelping, as the crack follows them rapidly. The crack suddenly stops expanding as one of the supports hits an embedded rock and doesn't fall. The villains stop retreating, and look back at the gang angrily. Merlin, Amadeus, Rosemary and Miranda pop out of the hole.

"I need help. It didn't work," said Merlin.

"Hey, it works for me!" said Leroy, approaching, again. Amadeus, Rosemary, Merlin and Miranda are backed up against the rock wall.

"What are we gonna do?" Amadeus asked, panicked, holding Rosemary.

Tails first looks terrified; then he looks at the ground under the bad guys, noticing where the crack ends up. He steels himself, then runs headlong at Evil Erin, aiming between her legs. Lightning flashes as Rosemary yells after him.

"What?!" Evil Erin gasped.

"Tails, no!" Rosemary shouted. Tails dives into the crack and rushes along it, pursued by the villains' growls and snapping teeth. He makes it past, and the villains lose interest in him, focusing back on Bonkers, Erin, Alyssa, Amadeus, Rosemary, Miranda and Merlin; the two-tailed foxes hug each other in terror as Erin hugged Miranda and Bonkers hugged Alyssa.

"Let's get them!" Evil Erin ordered. Tails dives for the last tunnel support; it crumbles on impact. The villains leap for their victims; Bonkers, Erin, Alyssa, Amadeus, Rosemary, Merlin and Miranda gasp and steel themselves as lightning flashes. As Evil Erin lands right in front of them, however, the ground gives way, followed by the whole ledge area collapsing into a huge crater, swallowing all the villains' whole. The villains slide through a huge subterranean tunnel complex, screaming, until they disappear into the darkness. Camera switch to the peak of Dragon Cave, where Jake is just hurling Dialgos over the edge; Dialgos crashes down the cliff face, passing the group as they watch.

"I'd say Dialgos is down and out," Bonkers said, with finality.

"We did it. We did it!" Merlin shouted with triumphed.

Rosemary is consumed with worry; shaking Merlin by the chest hair, "Where's Tails? Where's my baby? He's hurt!" she flings Merlin away, "Oh, no! Oh, no! He's dead!" She grabs Bonkers by the nose and slams him to the ground, looking downright insane, "Or _worse!_ W-we gotta find him. We've gotta find him!"

Tails emerges from the hole, "It's okay, Mom."

Rosemary grabs Tails and shakes him, "Oh, please. It is not okay! Don't you tell me it's okay!" she recognized him; gasping, "Tails!" she embraces him in a bear hug, "My son…my hero!" Rosemary reaches up as though to comb his hair, but catches herself; she looks at her hands in embarrassment.

Tails lowered his head, "You missed a spot," Rosemary combs it and dusts him off.

"That's so beautiful!" Merlin overcome, crying, and grabs Tails, hugging him tightly around his neck.

"Choking... Not breathing..." said Tails.

**Just two more chapters to go!**


	14. Promised Land

Now that the problem is over, Tails and the gang will be moving to their same home

**Now that the problem is over, Tails and the gang will be moving to their same home.**

That rainy night, washing over the cleansed Dragon Cave. Thunder crashes as the camera pans down the rock face; Kakashi gestures to Jake to take his place as King. Before he starts up the slope, Jake turns aside to Tails, Erin, Alyssa and Bonkers, who bow formally to him.

Jake embracing them, "I couldn't have done it without you guys," he starts to march up the promontory.

"That's our boy," said Bonkers, proudly, but not a little wistfully.

"Ohh... I promised myself I wasn't gonna cry," Alyssa began to cry. Jake roars at the tip of the promontory; the group looks up at him flush with pride as the rest of the dragons roars back. Merlin and Amadeus. Rosemary and Miranda. The two-tailed foxes and Bonkers all share a look. Tails smiled at Erin and they finally kissed.

"You've really come a long way, son. Did you find what you were looking for?" Amadeus asked, impressed.

"I found a place that was beyond my wildest dreams. But... it still wasn't home," Tails replied, taking Erin hand, "Let's go home, guys." Later on, Tails and Erin is now showing it off to their parents.

"Whoa," said Miranda.

"Welcome to our new home... a predator-free environment," said Erin.

"I gotta hand it to you, Tails. This place has everything," said Rosemary.

"Well, now that we're all here, it does," said Tails. In the inner jungle, Merlin is leading a group of foxes in a session of tai-chi.

"Crane... spreads its wings... Turns, with dainty hands..." said Merlin. Later, the foxes arrayed along the edge of a pool, arms all upraised; one by one they dive into the water as they sing.

Foxes: _**Digga tunnah,  
Dig, dig a tunnah  
Never gonna dig another tunnah  
Digga tunnah,  
Dig, digga tunnah  
Never more the Anti-Toon come!**_

A chorus line of butterfly wings are swept out of the way; Tails dances and cavorts with a Carmen Miranda-esque hat of colorful bugs.

_**Sing the praises of brave Tails  
Bravest fox we've ever known**_

Merlin relaxes in the vine hammock with a drink, while bugs fall all around. Foxes, Bonkers and Alyssa take turns on the trampoline.

_**Never dreamed he'd help Jake shine**_

Bonkers: _**Proved it's cool to hang out with bobcat!**_

A line of foxes fish for bugs under a log.

Foxes: _**Accidentally saved the day**_

Tails: _**Planned it so it would look that way!**_

Foxes: _**And brought us out of the dirt and sand  
Led his family to the Promised Land**_

_**Sing the praises of brave Tails  
Bravest fox we've ever known!**_

**Stay tuned for the final chapter.**


	15. Curtain Call

Here it is the final chapter of my story

**Here it is the final chapter of my story.**

"Well, that's it. The big wrap-up, the happy ending, the grand finale," Tails narrated back at the theater seats.

"It's over already?" Bonkers whispered.

"Well, Bonkers. That's the thing about endings. They come at the end," Tails replied.

"Ooh, can we watch it again?" Bonkers asked, excited.

"Bonkers, we just saw it. Maybe tomorrow," Erin replied. Rosemary entered the theater, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" she gasps as she seen the screen, "You didn't tell me you were watching the movie! I wanna watch too!"

"Mom, we just finished. Show's over," said Tails.

"Well, you're just gonna have to rewind it!" Rosemary grabs Bonkers' remote and begins rewinding.

"Mom!" Tails said, pained.

"Amadeus, Merlin! We're gonna watch the movie!" Rosemary called.

"Oh no," Tails groaned.

Merlin and Amadeus entered the theater, carrying the popcorn, "Hey, I brought extra butter."

"Mind if I join?" Miranda asked.

"Sure, Mom," said Erin.

"Erin," said Tails.

Jake, Danny and June entered, "Hey, you guys are watching the movie?" Jake asked.

"I love movies!" June added.

"Ditto," said Danny.

"Any story worth telling is worth telling twice," Kakashi came in. The silhouette of Shelby walks in and sits down.

"What the…" said Tails.

"Hey Alyssa, mind if I sit next to you?" Shadow asked.

"Not at all," Alyssa replied, blushing. The members of the F.A.F. came in, including DarkMagicianmon and Hikari. Breaker came in and sat with Shelby, "Hey babe, looks like it's my lucky day…"

Shelby's boyfriend, Jose, slugged Breaker, "Quit flirting with my girl!" Jose sat next to Shelby.

"Breaker, you're a moron," said Luster, relaxing in the seat.

"Who is _this_ crowd?" Tails asked.

Cosmo, Wanda and their son, Poof flies in and sits down in the middle, followed by Crash, Coco and Crunch. Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, Riku are also seated in this row.

"Hey, down in front!" Tails shouted.

In another row, the Happy Tree Friends are sitting; Daxter jumps head to head, until he gets to a vacant seat.

"What did you do that for?!" Handy snapped. In still another row, Ratchet and Clank sit at opposite ends of the row; Spyro flies in, followed by Sparx. The Xiaolin Dragons and Jack Spicer all pile in, shouting. Switch to Tails' row, where he's holding two large bodies apart to keep them from squashing him.

"Watch it!" Tails shouted, straining.

Tails' row has Ben 10, Cynder, Dani, the Powerpuff Girls, Digimon Tamers and DATS Squad, Yin, Yang and Yo. Ben and Dani squeeze together, and Tails squirts out from between them like a watermelon seed. He lands next to Bonkers, Erin and Alyssa as the movie, still rewinding, nears the beginning.

"Okay, buddy, you win," Tails resigned.

"Sure you don't mind?" Bonkers asked.

"Hakuna Matata," Erin sincere.

"Shh," said Russell.

"Sorry," Breaker apologized.

"Uh guys…" Bonkers said as the screen goes black, "I still don't do so well in crowds."

**Finally! I'm finished with the final story of the trilogy. Thank you everyone for reviewing and stay tuned for DarkMagicianmon's request.**


End file.
